Until private equity firm Permira bought the AA motoring group three years ago, Damon Buffini was a relatively anonymous City figure despite being hugely successful. That all changed when Permira, the private equity business he runs, began a series of job cuts at the AA and became the target of a campaign by the GMB union.

Last summer Mr Buffini's Sunday prayers at Holy Trinity church in Clapham, south London, were disrupted by a protest outside at which the GMB paraded a camel. The idea was to represent the biblical saying that it is easier to thread a camel through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go to heaven.

Mr Buffini is certainly rich. According to some estimates he is worth as much as £100m.

However, he was not born into wealth. He was brought up on a council estate in Leicester by his mother; his father, a black American serviceman, was not involved in his upbringing. He went to grammar school and eventually to St John's College, Cambridge, from where he graduated in 1984. He later attended Harvard Business School and embarked upon a career at investment bank Schroders, whose private equity arm eventually became Permira after he led a management buy-out.

People who know Mr Buffini say he is talkative, opinionated and gregarious. He is an Arsenal supporter and also enjoys playing football.

Married to Deborah with three children, he can no longer keep a low profile even if he would like too.

On top of the camel incident, he was again surrounded by protesters from the GMB last month at the launch of a charity set up by the venture capital industry. He has now tried to call a halt to the animosity by inviting the GMB to a meeting.

Permira owns the AA jointly with rival private venture capital firm CVC whose chairman and co-founder Michael Smith has so far managed to avoid being targeted in such a personal way. The GMB clearly believes it is Permira that calls the shots, at least when it comes to the AA.